Monday, March 16, 2009

Giants (5) vs Angels (8)

As just about everyone knows by now, Tim Lincecum was scratched from the game due to bronchitis. That made this a bullpen game with Jeremy Affeldt getting the start. In addition to that, the Giants gave almost every starter the day off, with the exception of Bengie Molina and either Kevin Frandsen or Manny Burriss (depending on who wins that battle), who started at 2B and SS respectively. By about the 5th inning the Giants had an entire infield that had no chance of making the team. So bottom line is, they didn't try real hard to win this game........and the result was their 4th loss in a row.

Considering the circumstances, the only thing that concerned me about this game was that 5 of the Angels 8 runs were scored off of the Giants' lefthanded and righthanded setup men. Bobby Howry gave up his first 2 runs of the spring, so there is no real concern there. Affeldt however, continues to struggle, as he gave up another 3 runs in 2 innings of work, on 3 hits (2 doubles) and a walk. Affeldt is obviously having mechanical problems. Between innings he and Dave Righetti had a long discussion that was punctuated with arm movements and such, indicating they were talking about mechanics. I'm not a pitching coach, but it looks like Jeremy is dragging his arm. On a high percentage of his pitches, his arm was still behind him after his landing foot hit the ground........not usually a good thing for a pitcher. No matter what the exact problem......he needs to fix it before the start of the season.

In the battle for second base, Frandsen went 1 for 3 with an RBI as he chopped the ball over a drawn-in Angels infield for an RBI. He was also caught stealing, when Jesus Guzman swung though a hit and run pitch. Burriss was 0 for 1 with a sacrifice bunt. Both played flawless defense, but didn't have any particularly tough chances.

Apparently, the Giants plan to make tomorrow's game against the Brewers another bullpen game with Billy Sadler as the starter. Considering Billy's 18.00 ERA, that should mean another "interesting" game.

About Me

I have been a Giants fan for as long as I can remember. I have had Giants Regular Season Tickets for 25 years (since 1985) and Spring Training Season Tickets since the "new" Scottsdale Stadium opened in 1992. I have gone to Spring Training every year, except the strike year, since 1987. I go to A LOT of Giants games. I also go to Arizona for the Arizona Fall League every October/November. I figure I attended about 125-130 games in calendar year 2008......almost all of them involving Giants players. Baseball is a great game.....Giants' baseball is the best part of a great game!